Don't Stand So Close to Me
by Arianax3
Summary: Ariana is a normal kid in South Park Elementary, and when she falls in love she knows what she wants and she's going to do anything to get it. Meanwhile, seems like everyone in South Park has come down with a bad case of the love sickness.
1. Don't Stand So Close To Me

**Disclaimer**: I do not in any way, shape, or form own South Park. Thank Trey Parker and Matt Stone for that :)

A/N: I know, I know love triangles are so clique, but it's my first story and I thought I'd try something easy first. Anyways, I'm adding all new characters like myself and my friends. And of course, keeping the great south park characters we already know and love. Enjoy!

**Don't Stand So Close To Me**

A shrill noise pierced the silence in the room.

_Ring, ring..._

Ariana groaned, turning over in bed. She glanced at the alarm clock and pulled the sheets over herself. It was her first day of school and she didn't want to be late, but she wasn't ready for 5th grade. And the whole concept of attending a public school gave her the heebie jeebies.

"Get up! You're gonna be late to school!" her sister yelled from the kitchen

"I'm going, I'm going!"

She pressed the stop button on her alarm clock reluctantly and trudged to her closet. She picked out a light green sweater, and slipped her shoes on. She ran out of her room grabbing a hair brush to comb her unruly brown hair. She snatched an apple from the kitchen table and ran out the door, her bag slung over her shoulder.

She strolled down the sidewalk dreading the day ahead of her, while troubling thoughts ran through her head. What if nobody liked her? What if she wasn't in class with Alicia? What if some bully takes her lunch money?

Thud.

She stumbled back, returning from the depths of her thoughts. Because she hadn't been paying attention she had bumped into another being. He was wearing an orange jacket and a green hat.

"Sorry, uhm, I d-didn't see you there…" She nervously apologized, fixing her sweater.

"No, it's alright." He brushed himself off and continued chatting with his friends.

Her eyes slowly made their way up from her sleeve to the boy and froze.

He had a gentle face, and a winning smile. He was everything she had ever dreamed of in a boy. He was an angel. And she needed to know his name.

The bus pulled up and all the kids climbed aboard. Peeking over to the boy she had run into earlier, she noticed an empty seat. She approached him ,but another girl snatched the spot suddenly.

"Hi Rebecca, how was your summer" He said, dreamily.

"Good." She replied sweetly, twiddling her fingers.

"That's nice." He smiled softly.

"Well, it would have been nicer if you had been there." She bit her lip nervously.

She reached for his hand, Ariana turned red with anger. The perfect boy and the awkward new girl. It was just like the movies, but with every good movie comes a twist. This fidgety girl was quite obviously her twist.

"You could sit over here." a muffled voice interrupted her thoughts.

She turned to find a boy hidden beneath an orange parka. She longed to sit with the other boy, but seeing as there was no other option, she took the seat next to him.

"So, what's your name?" He asked.

"Ariana."

"That's a pretty name."

Shocked at his reply, she just forced a fake smile and turned away. Her beloved was now stroking the other girl's hand, hatred burned inside of her. He stole a quick glance in her direction, and she looked away quickly.

_Oh gosh, did he catch me looking? Act natural, Ariana._

"So, what's your name?" She asked the boy next to her, trying to seem natural.

He smiled nervously, unaware of what to do. It took him long enough to answer with a simple, "Kenny, Kenny McCormick."

"Cool, so, you know that kid?" She pointed towards the green hatted boy.

"Yeah, that's Kyle. He's one of my best friends, why?"

"No reason."

A devilish smile overtook her. She would do anything to have a perfect movie ending with Kyle. And if she had to step on a few toes to get it, that was okay. Her concious seemed to be lost because nothing inside of her was saying how wrong it was.

When the bus reached it final destination, the kids climbed out, reuniting with friends they hadn't seen over the summer and taking in the fact that they were now 5th graders. Ariana frantically searched for Kyle, to find him with his girlfriend, fingers entwined, and her plan looking better by the second.

"So, I'll see you later." Kenny said his awkward goodbye.

"Wait."

Acting completely on impulse, she threw her arms around Kenny, pulling him into a tight embrace. His expression displayed his confusion and suprise perfectly. Too shocked to return the action, he just stood there in her arms for a bit. She detatched herself finally to find him red in the face. And with a teasing smile glued onto her face she headed into the school.


	2. Hey Jealousy

A/N: I hoped you liked the last chapter, anyways in this chapter the first kiss of the story occur, to find out between who you have to keep reading. Thanks for the reviews last chapter and remember to review this chapter. Enjoy!

Edited on 3/01/07

**Hey Jealousy**

Ariana walked into the building in search of Room 102. She couldn't help, but notice she hadn't seen any of her friends yet and hoped that would change by the time she got to class. Tons of things were running through her mind, but the one thing that kept coming back was that using Kenny to get to Kyle was wrong. It seemed her concious had finally kicked in and was now making her stomach sick.

"Hey, you, stop!" Someone frantically called from behind.

She whipped around to find the boy of her dreams running towards her and pinched herself just to make sure it wasn't a dream.

_Ow._

It wasn't.

"Hey, I finally caught up to you." He panted, resting a hand on her shoulder to catch his breathe. It sent chills up her spine.

"O-oh, sorry. I didn't think you were talking me." She lied.

"Sorry, it's just I didn't catch your name earlier. I just needed help finding my class, it's 102."

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head and she quickly pinched herself again to reassure that this was reality.

"Why did you just..."

"M-My class is 102 too! we can look together." She blurted out nervously, cutting off his question on her wierd pinching behavior.

"Okay...cool. By the way, my name's Kyle, what's yours?"

"Ariana." She let out a fangirl-ish giggle, but he just shot her another confused look.

"Okay.."

They started down the hall, searching for their class together, in utter silence, only interrupted by Kyle letting out a small cough and Ariana asking him if he had said something. In other words: completely awkward. She pulled at her collar nervously, looking at his lonely hand swinging by his side.

_What would it hurt if I just reached out and held it?_

She nervously inched her hand closer to his, withdrawing it, and going for it again, and withdrawing it, and going for it again. Her tongue peeked out the side out her mouth and her her brow furrowed as if she was about to make a game winning basket at a game.

"Kyle! Ariana!" Yelled a ecstatic, muffled voice.

"Hey, Kenny." Kyle threw his hand up to wave, breaking Ariana's concentration.

"What are _you _doing here?" She asked accusingly, obviously upset by the interruption.

"I was looking for you," He obviously hadn't noticed the harsh tone of her voice, "Oh, and Kyle, Rebecca's looking for you."

"Rebecca? I better go find her." Kyle exclaimed and ran down the hall.

"Wait.." Ariana squeaked, but it was diregarded. Kyle rushed up the hallway, leaving her alone with Kenny.

"So, uhm..Ariana, what class are you in? I'm in Room 104." Kenny asked nervously.

"102." She stated bluntly, showing no interest in what room he had been placed in.

He began to ramble on about god knows what, as she examined her cuticles. A sigh escaped her lips to express her complete boredom and Kenny's little speech about whatever came to an abrupt hault.

"Am I talking too much?" Kenny asked, as bit hurt by her bored expression.

_Yes!_

Unfortunetly, luck was not with her this morning because as soon as she opened her mouth to dismiss the chatty Kenny, she spotted Kyle and Rebecca coming towards them, fingers entwined.

And that's when it happened. The moment when all sanity fleeted from her and was replaced by ill intentions. She snatched the front of Kenny's parka and pulled him into her lips. She held him there long enough for all to see before letting go of him. His mouth dropped to the floor as soon as they were apart.

"Woah." He managed to say through all of the confusion.

She peeked over at Kyle, who's mouth was completely agape like Kenny's, and smirked. Rebecca poked his shoulder to get his attention.

"Kyle, what's wrong?" She pouted.

"Oh, oh nothing.." He squaked.

Ariana skipped down the hallway, motioning Kenny to follow. They reached Room 102 and she reached for his hands.

"Kenny, I know this is sudden, but maybe me and you can go out sometime." She asked flirtaciously.

"Really? I mean, yeah. Yes." He chirped.

She glanced over to the still shocked Kyle and kissed Kenny once more on the cheek. Just to seal the deal. She skipped into her classroom, feeling on the top of her game. However, unaware of the danger lurking around the corner.

Wendy Testaburger creeped out from behind a locker, a maniacal laugh that fit her evil reputation spilled from her mouth. Apparently, she had seen the whole thing and was going to make sure the whole damn fifth grade would know too.


	3. Lying is Your Favorite Passion

A/N: Hidy Hoe! I know it's been over a year since I've been on this site, or updated this story, but I'm gonna try to pick up where I left off. I'm actually going to steer this story into a different direction, but it'll be good, I promise : I'm going to be adding some new characters and you're finally gonna see some Stan, Cartman, etc. I know the punctuation and grammar might be a bit off, sorry, I didn't actually pay attention in 3rd grade . . Still, please review and enjoy!

**Lying is Your Favorite Passion**

"I'm serious! They totally made out. And Kyle looked pissed off, he practically killed Kenny, she like had to intervene and everything. It was crazy!"

Wendy Testaburger had a reputation of being the school gossip. No one could tell the story better than her, even if she sometimes added and left out some details. Her and her circle of friends were sitting in the desks at the back of the classroom giggling and gossiping. Wendy's latest tall tale was about Ariana. Apparently, she had turned Kyle into a raging jealous maniac who tried to kill Kenny.

Ariana was seated only a few seats down, yet she remained completely obtuse to the lies being told about her. She chewed on her pencil, a habit she had tried and failed to break, while thinking about the whole everything that had just taken place. She felt like a complete ass for kissing Kenny just now, and admitted that had been a dickhead move, but the look on Kyle's face...he had been completely jealous. She just couldn't help herself.

"What's up at chuuu, Ani" A highpitched voice broke her train of thought.

A tall, blonde girl was taking a seat next to her. She had hazel eyes, and was as skinny as a 2x4 plank of wood. The way she adapted internet slang to real life conversations, and her scatterbrained personality is what Ariana loved about her best friend, Alicia.

"Hey Alicia." She said simply.

"Aye, so what's this I hear about you and some guy making out?"

"WHAT?!"

Just then Mrs.Garrison walked in and told the class to shut the hell up. Judging on her irritable attitude, she probably had been dumped again. Goddamnit. She turned her back to the board to write down some incredibly unreasonable assignment, even though it was the first day. At that moment Kyle snuck into the classroom and over to a desk in front of Alicia, and next to his best friend, Stan.

"KYLE WHY ARE YOU LATE TO MY CLASS?" Mrs.Garrison turned around and began this long lecture about the consequences of being late to class, probably fully aware that no one was actually paying attention.

"Who said I was making out with anyone?" Ariana whispered.

"Well, I heard it from Powder, who heard it from Bertha, who heard it from Bebe." It was just like Alicia to get caught up in all these rumors. A deadly trait of hers.

"It's not true though! I didn't make out with him!" She protested a little too loudly and the class erupted in laughter.

"Ms.Estes, is there something you would like to share with the class?" Mrs.Garrison said dropping the whole 'late to class' lecture.

"No, Mrs.Garrison."

"Well, then shut up! Now where was I? Oh yes, I want you to have this essay in by tomorrow, no acceptions!"

This was going to be a long first day...

Mrs.Garrison was rambling on and on about how lesbians are just as bad as men, when luckily enough the lunch bell rang. The kids dashed to the door and Mrs. Garrison just yelled about how she would finish her story after class. Ariana got up reluctantly, afraid of what the free range of the lunchroom would bring her. The only thing that could make this worse was...

"Hey you." A lovestruck mumbling Kenny approached her, Alicia took this as her cue to exit stage left. Ariana wished she hadn't left her alone with him.

"Hey.." She said awkwardly

"So who are you sitting with at lunch? Cause I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me and the guys." Kenny's expression was dreamy and hopeful. How could she say no, especially after the whole charade in the hallway before class.

"Sure, can Alicia sit with us too?" She thought maybe that might make it less awkward.

"Yup."

He grabbed her hand, although a little uncomfortable with it, she let him. They walked to the lunchroom, people snickered as they walked by. _Just shrug it off_ she told herself. They walked into the lunch line, got their lunch and took a seat.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Ariana."

"Awuh, Kenny's got a girlfriend, does she know you're..."

"Hey. I'm Stan, I think you're in my class." Stan cut off Cartman's insult, and Kenny silently thanked him.

"Yeah." She smiled, Stan seemed like a nice guy.

"And this is Cartman, or fatass, as we like to call him." Kenny pointed to him as Cartman just glared.

"And that's..."

"We already met, thank you very much." Kyle snapped. Ariana's heart fluttered, as she took notice of Rebecca's absence.

Alicia came over to the table, apparently getting the text she sent. She sat next to Ariana, and across from Stan. He cracked an awkward smile and she mirrored the action.

"Hey, I'm Alicia..."

"Stan" That was all he could get out. Alicia blushed.

"So, Ariana, do you maybe wanna hang out later?" Kenny asked, not taking note of the lovestruck couple exchanging googly eyes.

"Uhmmm..." Ariana hesitated, "Sure, why don't you come over to my house after school?"

"He can't, he's already said he was coming over my house...to do that thing." Kyle lied.

"Well, how about we swing by your house then? If that's okay with you." Kenny suggested. He figured it would be less wierd with Kyle, maybe he could even invite Rebecca.

Kyle and Ariana both made a face. Kyle didn't want Kenny and her to be together at all. Let alone at his house, but at least this way he could monitor them. He gave the okay to Kenny.

Kenny put his arm around Ariana's shoulder. She saw the girls over at Wendy's table whispering suddenly and Wendy had a big smirk on her face. It dawned on her that it had probably been Wendy who had started that lie. Bitch. Kenny gave her shoulder a little squeeze and her mind came back to this table. She looked over at Cartman who was scarfing down his 2 lunches, at Stan and Alicia who were having what looked to be like an interesting conversation, and at Kyle who was looking at the floor sullenly. She wanted to give him a huge bear hug, yet remembering Kenny and her were 'an item'. Maybe she could let Kenny down easily when they hung out today..wait, that was a brilliant idea! Just explain to him that she was completely in love with Kyle. He would understand...right?

The bell rang and everyone exited the lunchroom, Kenny walked her all the way back to her class. He leaned in for a kiss, but she dodged it, claiming that Mrs. Garrison was a hard ass about being late and dashed into the classroom. If she was gonna break it to him after school she couldn't keep giving him the idea that she liked him.

Kyle was standing near the water fountain. He had seen the little action and smiled. Maybe there was hope for him after all. Wait, wasn't he supposed to be with Rebecca? After school might bring a few surprises after all...


	4. So This is Love?

A/N: Ello again, after that last chapter ideas have just been rushing to me. So, Kenny, Kyle, and Ariana are hanging out today. Is Ariana gonna tell Kenny she just wants to be friends? Will she break his heart? What's up Kyle's jealously? read, find out, review :

**So This is Love?**

"So you two didn't make out?"

"For the umpteenth time, no!"

"And you don't like him?"

"No. I mean yes."

"So you do like him?"

"No! I mean yes I don't like him."

"I'm confused..."

Sometimes Ariana just wanted to strangle her airheaded best friend. She was trying to explain everything that had happened to her today, but it was like trying to explain it to a brain dead monkey. Fortunetly, the girls arrived at Ariana's house before she had to explain the story again for the fourth time.

She opened the front door, instantly greeted by her schnauzer Mika. She brushed the dog off and walked into the kitchen. There was a note from her sister on the table. It just said she was out with her boyfriend AGAIN, and there was macaroni salad in the fridge. Ew. She grabbed a popsicle out of the fridge and went upstairs to her room. She dropped onto her bed and flicked the iHome on with the remote. Forever the Sickest Kids started to play. She rolled over onto her back and pondered on what the right way to break up with Kenny was. Is there ever a right way to crush someone's heart?

OoOoO

Kyle paced around his room. The phone kept ringing and he knew it was Rebecca, but he couldn't bring himself to answer. He thought about Rebecca's curly light brown hair, the way she bit her lip nervously, and twiddled her fingers. A year ago he had completely fallin in love with her. He had never felt that way for anyone else since. So why was he suddenly starting to for Ariana? He couldn't settle himself he was so confused and all he wanted to do was go see her, but he didn't know where she lived...there was always the phonebook. A smile appeared on his face.

OoOoO

There was a knock on the window. Ariana jerked up, she had let herself doze off. She sat up, and walked over to the window.Suddenly, she looked as if she's seen a ghost, and she rubbed her tired eyes to make sure they weren't playing tricks on her, but it was clear as daylight. Kyle was sitting on the big oak tree, knocking on her window.

"Kyle what are you doing here? It's only 3:56, we're not hanging out til 4:30" She exclaimed while opening her window. She offered her hand to help him in, but he graciously declined.

"I know, but I thought 'Hey maybe I'll drop in, see what Ariana's doing'" Kyle laughed and began to climb down the tree again.

"Where are you going?" Ariana propped her head outside of the window to watch Kyle descend.

"I'm not going, _we're _going. Now come on." He beckoned her down. She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming before climbing out the window and down the tree to join him.

"Are we gonna go get Kenny?"

"Uhh.." Kyle grabbed the back of his neck, he hadn't actually thought of Kenny.

"It's okay, I don't really wanna hang out with him either." He liked the way she could read him like a book.

"Wanna go get an ice cream or something?" Kyle realized it was the corniest most cliche suggestion, but she quickly accepted.

She had big, light, golden-brown eyes. The right one actually was even lighter than the left one, and it had more a faded look. He couldn't recall the color of Rebecca's eyes. He actually couldn't even recall if he had ever looked into Rebecca's eyes. Maybe, he hadn't been in love with her after all...

OoOoO

Kenny climbed out of the shower, the only one he would take this week, but today was a worthy day. He looked through his closet for something nice to wear, but in all he had was his orange parka, his baseball uniform, his only good blue suit and some clothes that didn't fit him anymore. He decided to stick with the parka, despite its smell. He pulled it over his head, without pulling the hood up. Boy, would Ariana be surprised.

OoOoO

"Do you need a napkin?"

Ice cream trickled onto her hand and down her arm.Of course, Ariana hadn't even been aware of this for she was to busy staring dreamily at Kyle.

"Yeah, please." _Oh gosh, did he catch me staring?_

"So..you and Kenny, huh?" Kyle asked, burning up at the thought of that perv and her actually dating.

"Yeah, not really..He's a nice guy, but not my type. Hey wanna go to Stark's Pond?"

"Sure." Kyle loved the idea of being alone with her at Stark's Pond, the place for romance. Although, he did feel a bit bad for Kenny but, that wasn't enough for him to call it quits and go home. He was sure he loved this girl and no one was gonna get in the way of that. Selfish much?

OoOoO

_Ding-Dong, Ding-Dong, Ding-Dong..._

After five minutes of his incessant doorbell ringing, Kenny gave it a rest. He peeked into the window, to find the house empty except for a small, barking schnauzer. He thought of the Petsmart commercial, and wondered if the dog's name was Mr.Barky Von Schnauzer.Surely, this would've been funnier to him if his girlfriend wasn't missing in action. He backed away from the house and made his way towards Stark's Pond. After all, Cartman said he'd be there with Butters until 4:30, with luck they might still be there...

OoOoO

Ariana was sitting on the bench, waiting for Kyle to be done taking a whiz. She took a look around the park, absorbing the scene. There were two teenage lovers holding hands under a tree, a mother and a baby sitting on a bench on the other side of the lake, Little children building a snowman, and a gloomy looking, blonde boy kicking rocks onto the frozen lake. Poor guy, his girlfriend must have broken up with him or something. Thoughts of Kenny creeped into her mind, and she suddenly felt like scum. Maybe coming here with Kyle was a bad idea, she should go home and call Kenny. She got up to leave when suddenly, she felt a soft thud on the back of her head. She turned around to see Kyle, he had thrown a snowball at her! He was holding something behind his back, no doubt another snowball so she scooped a reasonable sized clump of snow and rolled it up. Kyle ducked and charged towards her. She covered her face and waited for impact, only to find that nothing had happened. She opened her eyes to see Kyle in front of her with a handful of daisies.

"I picked these for you." He held them out for her.

"Kyle, thank you. No wonder you were taking so long to pee." She reached out for the boquet and brought them to her face to smell. He swiftly kissed her on the cheek, as she admired the flowers and blushed.

"A simple 'We're over' would've been fine." An unfamiliar voice came in from the side. She looked over at Kyle who had a guilty look on his face, then she turned to the blonde boy, the same one who had been over by the lake. At first, she had no idea who this boy was, but then it hit her. Kenny.

"Kenny..I'm sorry." She dropped the flowers and made her way towards him.

"Don't touch me. Screw you guys, I'm going home." He closed sentence with Cartman's signature line and walked off, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Ariana.." Kyle reached out for her shoulder.

"Why'd you have to come to my house, why couldn't you have just let me be. Don't you have a girlfriend anyways? Go screw her life up." She hadn't meant it, and she knew it would hurt him, but she still said it. He turned his back to her and walked off in the other direction. Good job, Ariana...


	5. Awesomo

A/N: It's me again : I'm updating again for the third time in two days. Hah, so I was watching hairspray last night for the 38493859x and this idea came to me. I hope you like it and if you do, remember to review. Enjoy.

**Awesom-o (Not of the Robot Persuasion)**

A whole weekend had gone by since the whole Kyle and Kenny fiasco. Ariana was hoping she could start of the first monday of the year on a good note. She was the first one at the bus stop so she just pulled out her sketch pad and began to draw.

"That's pretty good." A voice came from over her shoulder. She turned to see Cartman munching on Cheesy Poofs.

"Really?" She had never really thought she was a great drawer.

"Yeah." He smiled at her. This boy was very different from the one she had met on Friday who seemed like a rude pig. Just shows you can't judge a book by its cover.

She wanted to engage a conversation with Cartman, but three other boys approached him and his normal attitude returned. Kyle and Kenny were standing on both sides of Stan, seemingly mad at eachother. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, she had actually torn two friends apart.

Before any awkward small talk could begin the bus pulled up. The boys sat down, taking the last 2 empty bus seats. Ariana looked around for a free spot, but there seemed to be none. Just her luck.

"You can sit here." A girl with glasses called out.

"Thanks a bunch, I'm Ariana." She held out her hand to shake but the girl just highfived her. She had glasses and a light, almost invisible freckles on her nose and cheeks. She had bangs that stopped at her eyebrows, and her hair was long. Ariana like her hair, it was light brown on the bottom, and more golden-brownish on the top with blonde highlights.

"I'm Natasha."

"You're not in my class are you?"

"Nope. At least I don't think so. I'm in class 104, you?" She was in the same class as Kenny and Cartman..

"102."

"Cool, so what are you trying out for the 5th grade play?"

Ariana had completely forgotten about the play the 5th graders put on at the begginning of every year. They always started on the first monday of the year, and attendance was manditory whether you were a stagehand, an actor, or just part of the chorus.

"Uhm..I don't what's the play gonna be this year?"

"Romeo and Juliet, I mean, how lame _are_ they?" She stuck out her tongue.

"Yeah, why do they always do these stupid shakesphere plays."

"No creativity. Maybe we should suggest doing a different play this year. Like Grease, or even High School Musical." Natasha took out a piece of paper and began brainstorming ideas down, when Ariana grabbed her pencil from her and cracked a devilish smile.

"Or Hairspray.." Ariana loved the original and new Hairspray movies. It was perfect.

"Yeah, that's educational and fun." They laughed.

"So it's decided, we'll go to the drama teacher at the assembly today." The bus stopped at the school and kids began to file out, while Ariana and Natasha just sat there discussing how awesome this was gonna be. whoot!

OoOoO

"Settle down children." The drama teacher softly commanded. She was a woman in her sixties and had a sweet, grandmother face. Her name was Mrs. Delacroix, "As you all know, every year the fifth graders put on a production to kick off the year. This year you will be performing Shakesphere's 'Romeo and Juliet'"

The whole room groaned and Ariana and Natasha took this as their cue to suggest their idea. They had let Alicia in on it after introducing her to Natasha. Ariana raised her hand high and flailed it around obnoxiously to get the teacher's attention.

"Yes, young lady in the back."

"Well, Mrs. Delacroix, I was just thinking maybe we could do something other than Romeo and Juliet."

"Hamlet?" she suggested.

"No, like something more modern. Like Hairspray."

"Hairspray...? A musical comedy with love, catchy songs, and themes about integration..YES! THAT'S PERFECT! I can see it now." She suddenly began to dance about the stage, while the auditorium was cheering. "We will still start auditions today after school, and thank you young lady for the brilliant idea."

As people began to exit the auditorium, they gave her pats on the shoulder and friendly punches for saving them the misery of having to perform Romeo and Juliet. Wendy just glared and Natasha flipped her off.

"Awesom-o!" Alicia exclaimed. Yes, very awesom-o indeed.


	6. I'm Doing Everything For You

**I'm Doing Everything For You**

After school, the entire fifth grade class filed into the auditorium. Everyone had the character they were auditioning for in mind, and were just praying to god they wouldn't screw this up. Alicia was sitting near the end of the third row next to an empty seat. She had lost Ariana on the way and she was now feeling terribly lonely.

"Is this seat taken?"

Before her, Stan stood displaying an angelic mouthful of striaght, white teeth. Her heart melted. Throat too dry to speak, she just nodded as he took a seat. Wierdly enough he was not accompanied by his usual entourage of Kenny, Kyle, and Cartman.

"So where's the other guys?"

"I don't know, or care. Kyle and Kenny are pissed off at one another, and I keep getting caught in the middle. They need to work their own shit out."

"Oh."

"So where's _your_ friend?" Stan seemed to have found it strange that she wasn't sitting with Ariana.

"I don't know, I lost her on the way in." She said, pretending to be completely idependent, although she was actually very dependent.

"Well that's okay, you have me now." Stan joked. She hoped it was an attempt at flirting with her.

"_Lucky me_." Alicia teased, he punched her softly on the shoulder and laughed.

OoOoO

Natasha and Ariana were sitting in the way back. The drama teacher was calling people up to audition for the part of Seaweed, and when Token, the only black kid in the school, walked up a few people snickered.

"Quiet everyone!" Mrs. Delacroix demanded.

Token took the stage and sung his lungs out. It was obvious he was going to the get the part, if not for his voice, then because he _was_ the only person auditioning.

"He's _really_ good." Ariana clapped.

"Y-ye-yeah. I-isn't he?" Ariana and Natasha looked over at the boy taking a seat next to them. Ariana had never met this boy before, but with one look one thing about him was completely obvious. He was handicapped.

"Hey Jimmy" Natasha greeted the crippled boy.

"H-h-hello Tasha."

"Oh, Jimmy, this is my friend Ariana. Ariana, this is my half-brother Jimmy." Natasha's eyes were glued to the stage where the people auditioning for the part of Amber were scrambling about.

"Hey, so are you trying out for a part?" Ariana asked politely.

"Y-yes, I'm t-tr-trying out for the lead, Link L-l-la-Larkin." Jimmy sputtered

"Oh cool.." Ariana was trying to fight back laughter, but she couldn't contain herself. This boy could hardly even talk, how would he be able to sing? Of course, she had not been there a few Christmases ago when Jimmy held up the town for hours while he sang his favorite Christmas song.

"Anyone auditioning for the part of Link, come to the stage." Mrs. Delacroix called.

"T-th-that's my c-c-cue." He winked at her and walked over to the stage.

"He likes you." Natasha giggled, obviously catching his little wink.

"Believe me, that's not a good thing...I'm not very good with guys." She went on to explain the whole Kyle-Kenny situation.

"And anyone auditioning for Tracy, come on up." A huge crowd of girls got up. Ariana was one of them, and unfortunetly, Wendy too.

OoOoO

Kenny was sitting in the far corner of the back row. His eyes followed a girl walking up to the stage. She had been the only girl that he had ever loved. Unfortunetly, his love had been unrequited. Now, there he was lonely, not talking to his best friends, and heart broken. How pathetic.

"Hey, what are you doing over here all by yourself?"

Kenny jumped. Taking a seat next to him was a girl with freckles and glasses, who seemed to be talking to him.

"I'm Natasha, what's your name?" The girl extended her hand to shake. He made no movement to take her hand.

"Okay..." She withdrew her hand.

Just then, Ariana took the stage and his eyes fixated back onto her. Natasha raised an eyebrow realizing who this boy must be.

"She's pretty isn't she?" That got his attention.

"Beautiful." A sad smile appeared on his face.

"You know, she's sorry about everything." His eyes stayed glued to Ariana, ignoring her statement.

"Come on, it was a harmless little one day relationship. No reason to hold a grude, it's not like she crushed your heart." She barked.

"How would you know? Ever met someone and know you in love from the second you looked at them?" Kenny snapped, he was red from anger and just wanted her to leave him alone.

"You really love her? then do something about it." She got to leave, unaware that she had just given Kenny a great idea.

OoOoO

Ariana left the stage, and only time would be able to tell if she had gotten the part. As she walked down the small steps, she was greeted by the same boy she had met earlier. Apparently, he had been waiting for her.

"Y-y-you did gr-grr-great." His stuttering would most likely bug the hell out of anyone else but, she somehow found it charming, cute even.

"Thanks, so did you." She lied. After all, there was no reason to upset him. He was kinda cute.

They walked down to their seats together, passing Kyle on the way. She looked at him, but he quickly turned his head, grabbing Rebecca's hand. There was a tug at her heart.

"So, t-th-there's a k-karaoke club in t-t-to-town, you w-wa-wanna go somet-t-time?" Ariana refocused on Jimmy.

"Sure, how about this friday?"

"Ariana! Over here!" She found her friend waving her over.

"Hey Alicia, hey Stan." Her and Jimmy went over to join the two. ", this is Jimmy."

"Hello Jimmy." Alicia gave her friend a look that said 'ooh, he's _cuh-ute_'.

"So, hey we were just talking about going to that karaoke club on friday, wanna join?"

"Yeah, sure. Stan?" She charmed him with a warm smile, and he couldn't help but say yes.

"C-c-co-cool" Jimmy piped in.

"Hey Stan...can I talk to you for a second?" A muffled voice broke into the conversation. Everyone looked in his direction.

"Goddamnit, Kenny." He got up and Kenny pulled him over to the side.

"Stan, you gotta help me win her back." He grabbed his arm needingly.

"What are you talking about, dude?" Stan quickly pryed his hand from his arm.

"_Ariana_. I mean I can't sleep, I can't eat. She really messed me up bad, and all I want is to win her heart." Kenny had such a look of desperation in his eyes, a look Stan had never seen before.

"Errgh, fine. We're going to the karaoke club this friday, and I heard that a guy who can sing, makes girls melt. Just sing her a song, and she'll be good as yours." Stan pat him on the shoulder and returned to the others.

_As good as mine_...Kenny smiled to himself and walked out of the auditorium. They had not actually been dismissed yet, but if he wanted to do win her heart, he'd have to start practicing as soon as possible. After all, he wasn't the best singer.


	7. Karaoke, Anyone?

A/N: Sorry It took so long for an update, but I was spending the holidays with my family and my new puppy :) Anyways, enjoy chapter 7.

**Karaoke, Anyone?**

A few days had gone by since the auditions, and it was now friday afternoon. Better known as 'the day Kenny would be winning the girl of his dreams' heart'. He had been practicing all week, and was almost certain he had found a to make his voice sound actually acceptable. Stan was seated on his poor friend's filthly bed, playing with his hair in sheer boredness.

"Dude, will you hurry up. We're supposed to meet them in 15 minutes." He looked at the clock impatiently. It read 5:45.

"Calm down, I'm almost ready." He walked into the room wearing his cheap blue suit and apparently, his father's .99 cent cologne.

"So, what do you think about Alicia..?" Stan examined his fingernails in an attempt to make it look casual.

"What, the blonde? Yeah, she's okay." He slipped his on his shoes.

"Yeah, she is, isn't she."

"Okay, let's go."

"Yeah, let's go win us some ladies." He grinned.

OoOoO

The club reeked of old people and sweat. They had taken a seat near the back corner, away from all the elderly and drunk people with no lives. Ariana was beginning to think that this wasn't the best idea. She exchanged a look of disgust with Alicia, maybe they should just go home.

"W-w-wow, don't you l-l-look nice t-t-to-tonight." The familiar stuttering gave her a warm feeling in her heart. He was such a charming boy, a real gentlemen.

"Thank you." She blushed.

_So much for leaving_.

"You ready to get your karaoke on!" Natasha punched the air excitedly and ran up to the machine. Obviously, this must've not been her first time here.

As Natasha began to sing some cheesy Celine Dione song, Stan and Kenny walked in. Stan spotted the other and began towards them, but Kenny held back.

"Dude, are you coming?"

"No, I don't want her to see me until I take the stage. I'll be sitting over there, and DON'T mention I'm here." He went to go look for the farthest table from them, Stan just shrugged and continued onward.

"Hey guys." He had adressed everyone, but his eyes were on Alicia. She _was_ pretty wasn't she? Really _really_ pretty.

"Jimmy, I wanted to show you something over there." Ariana made up, deciding to give Alicia and Stan some alone time.

"Oh y-y-ye-yes, Of c-co-course."

Alicia chuckled, knowing that had to have been the most obvious set-up ever. Still, she couldn't help but be happy when she was with Stan. He scooted over to the seat next to her.

"So, casting is on friday. You think Ariana will get the role of Tracy?" He asked, just for the sake of small talk.

"Only an idiot wouldn't give her the part. She's a great singer."

"Yeah, but you think it matters she's not fat like the main character?"

"I hope not, I mean, the only way to get a fat Tracy is if.."

"Cartman played the role." He laughed, finishing her sentence.

Her recently applied lipgloss was glimmering in the light, tempting Stan to have a taste. As she bagan to speak he followed her lips, but did not hear her words.

"Stan? Are you listening to me?" She waved a hand in his face to snap him out of his blank stare.

Maybe it was the old people fumes going to is head, or the way the song Natasha was singing seemed to apply so well to the situation, but Stan was about to take a chance he had always been to chicken to take with anyone else.

_What are you waiting for?_

_Kiss her, kiss her._

He inched closer to her until they were close enough to kiss. All they had to do was pucker up..

"Sta-an." Someone called out in a sing-song way.

Stan pulled away reluctantly, and Alicia began to bite her lip nervously. There was only one person who could produce such a highpitched, annoying voice. And that person was Wendy Testaburger.

"How wierd is it that we're both here!? Isn't that wierd!" Wendy pulled up a chair and wedged it between the two.

"Yes. yes, it's very wierd Wendy." He snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes tightly in obvious frustration.

"A little too wierd." Alicia muttered from behind.

Although it had been barely audible, Wendy still managed to catch Alicia's little coment. She spun around to face her.

"I'm sorry, are you lost? Raisins is up the street, _cutie._" She crossed her arms and smiled wickedly in a 'Oh yeah, I went there' kind of way.

That had done the trick. Alicia stormed out of the place angrily, leaving Wendy with a sense of victory and the grand prize of Stan.

"What's her problem?" She asked innocently. Stan just gave her a death glare as Jimmy, Ariana, and Natasha rejoined the table.

"Where's Alicia? She in the bathroom?" Natasha turned to Stan for an answer, who just continued to glare at Wendy.

"W-wh-when did you g-g-get here, W-w-wen-wendy?"

"Not too long ago, I was just leaving though. Bye." She gave him a wink and headed for the exit.

"Did we miss something..?" The two girls asked in unison.

OoOoO

Kenny dabbed his forehead with a napkin. He made his way to the stage nervously. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He climbed the short steps to center stage. The spotlight was blindng, all he could make out was a encouraging Stan giving him a thumbs-up.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to a very special girl..." He said shakily, getting queasier.

He opened his mouth to sing, but instead of a heart melting serenade, a warm surge rushed up and out of his mouth. A chorus of 'Ews!' followed, and an embarassed Kenny ran out of the club. Real graceful...


	8. Just Some Harmless Fun

A/N: Someone other than Stan actually threw up :p woot. Anyways, here's the next installment of the story. Hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to review:)

**Just Some Harmless Fun.**

Natasha covered her face in embarassment for Kenny. Poor kid, he was just trying to win back the girl of his dreams.

"EW EW EW EW EW EW EW!" Ariana shrieked

Sure didn't seem like his plan had worked. It was time for damage control, she got up and left for the exit. Once she was outside she searched around for Kenny, which didn't take very long. He was sitting against the side of the building, his head buried into his knees.

"You know, if it counts, it wasn't _that_ bad." Natasha sat down next to him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"What'd Ariana do?" He asked, with a speck of hope in his eye.

"Well, she kinda...gagged." She confessed. He groaned and reburied his head.

"Don't worry about it, you're great." She smiled softly, Kenny just looked up and pulled his hood closed tighter.

"Come on, let's go. I'm sure you want to change into something clean anyway." She got up and outstretched a helping hand. He let out a little groan, and took it. To the ghetto!

OoOoO

"Ugh, so gross. Can we just go?" Ariana whined. However, Jimmy and Stan were way ahead of her.

The three of them headed out of the club, covering their noses while they passed the pool of vomit in the front. Outside, they were exposed to the frigid weather of Colorado. Ariana shivered, on account that she hadn't worn anything more than a tee.

"Y-yo-you-you're cold." Jimmy observed ", T-t-ake my j-j-ja-jacket."

"Jimmy, thank you!" She squealed, as he slipped his jacket over her shoulders. A classic movie moment. Stan rolled his eyes in disgust.

They strolled down the sidewalk silently for awhile until someone decided to break the awkward silence.

"So...What happened to Alicia today?" She had almost forgotten at the beginning of the evening, Alicia had been present.

"Well, Wendy just _happened _to show _up_, and you know how she is." He regretted not going after Alicia when had she had run off. Sometimes, he just didn't think.

"W-w-well, here's m-m-my h-ho-house." Jimmy pointed to the blue house, she displayed a sad expression.

"Thanks for the jacket." She smiled sullenly, handing it back to him.

"No, y-y-yo-you k-keep it. J-j-just, give it b-back on M-m-m-mo-monday. S-s-see ya." He beamed.

Ariana bit the inside of her mouth, as they continued down the sidewalk. With any other guy this might have been kind of wierd, but judging on how she and Stan were completely platonic, she opened up to him.

"So..Jimmy's kind of cute..." She commented, biting her nails.

"Dude! That's gross! Besides, I thought he was gay or something." He recollected the time at boy scouts, when Jimmy was kicked out because of a fake picture.

"He's not!" She protested, although a bit of worry overcame her.

"Whatever, let's not talk about it."

"Fine." They walked for about a minute in silence before she decided to say something again.

"So, what was up with Kenny today? Gross." She scrunched her face in utter repulsion.

"Will you shut up already? I mean, the only reason he even went up there was for you! He _loves_ you. Get it through your thick head already!" He snapped, Ariana stepped away from him in horror. She had never seen Stan so heated.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I just did that.." He apologized, realizing he had her scared half to death.

"It's okay.." The two of them walked the rest of the way quietly. No one daring to engage in conversation again.

OoOoO

"So, this is where you live?" Natasha and Kenny stood before a small, beat down house.

"Pretty bad, huh?" He held the front door open for her, expecting her to reject the invitation and head home. Instead, she politely wiped her feet and stepped inside.

The place smelled like the inside of a sewer, and there was writing in crayon all over the walls. They could hear arguing from a bedroom not too far away. Kenny led her to his room and shut the door, this drowned out his father's drunken screams and his mother's shrill yelling. She took a seat on his bed, he joined her.

"Are they alright?" She asked, concerned.

"Yeah, they do this all the time. Especially when he's drunk." He layed back on the bed.

"You're dad just yells though. Right?" She layed next to him.

"Of course, he's not abusive. Just alcoholic." He explained, reassuringly.

She turned on her side to face him. How could Ariana reject him? He was the dreamiest boy she had ever laid her eyes on. She smiled tiredly, he returned it with his eyes. On account that his mouth was completely hidden. Just because he liked Ariana didn't mean he was off-limits, right? She didn't even liked him back. She pulled his hood down, revealing his messy blonde hair and inviting lips. Without warning, she leaned in and kissed him. However, he pulled away quickly.

"What are you doing!?" He got up frantically, but she just sat up calming despite the situation.

"I don't know. It just felt appropriate." She shrugged.

"Well, it wasn't. You know how I feel about Ariana." He hissed.

"Whatever, it's not like I'm in love with you. I was just having some fun. Sue me." Kenny was all for fun, but was a meaningless hookup really his idea of fun? Duh.

He retook his seat, as Natasha smiled teasingly. She threw her arms around him as they began to indulge themselves. Still, even while he was making out with a cute, fun girl, thoughts of Ariana were restless in his head.


	9. Mended Friendship

A/N: Heyo everybody! Well, the last few chapters have focused alot on romance and love. So, I decided to write a chapter that focuses on friendship, yay. Enjoy, and review:)

**Mended Friendship.**

_Knock, knock..._

Cartman turned over violently in bed, covering his face with the sheets.

_Knock, knock..._

_"_Goddamnit." He muttered angrily under his breath. There was an obnoxious knocking at his window. _Who the hell could that be this early in the morning?_

_Knock, knock..._

"I'M COMING, GODDAMN YOU!" Cartman roared. He trudged madly to the window to find Ariana beaming at him and holding donuts up for him to see.

"AY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, HO?" He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, as he opened the window.

"Just dropping by to give you some donuts. Can I come in?" She asked politely.

"How about, no?" He rudely slammed the window closed and headed back to his bed.

"Fine, I'll just eat these donuts alone then." He stopped in his tracks.

"You wouldn't."

"Watch me." She stuffed a jelly donut in her mouth, and with that Cartman reopened the window and helped her in.

She sat down on his unmade bed while he scarfed down the remaining of the donuts. The boy who had complimented her at the bus stop seemed very distant all of a sudden. Maybe coming here had been a bad idea.

"Poopykins, Are you awake?" An affectionate voice called from downstairs.

"Yes, meem."

"Come down for breakfast then, sweetie."

He hurried downstairs, forgetting completely that Ariana was still there. However, rather than following him downstairs, she just stayed put. Cartman's room was covered in posters of Terrance and Phillip, and action figures. She took note of the stuffed animals in the corner. The thought of Cartman, who came off all tough and mean, owning a wellingtown bear made her giggle. A few minutes had gone by and he still had not come back. She creeped down the stairs to see if she could find out what he was doing.

"Mr. Kitty?" Mrs. Cartman called out, obviously responding to the steps on the stairs.

Ariana rushed back up, unaware if she was allowed to be there. She waited upstairs for another ten minutes before Cartman finally returned.

"What took you so long?" She questioned irritably.

"What the hell are you talking about? I only took a few minutes!"

"Well, when you're sitting up here alone it seems alot longer."

"Wha' eva. What the hell are you doing here anyways? And don't use that lame donut excuse." He was picking food scraps out from between his teeth, leaving Ariana utterly repulsed.

"I just wanted to hang out with someone that doesn't cause all this relationship drama and stuff, you know? I mean, Kenny and Kyle are..."

"Stop. You think I give a fuck about your problems? You come to me on a saturday morning to tell me about your emotional crap?!" He cut her off.

"It's already noon." She said dryly.

"Get out." He stated bluntly, climbing back into bed.

"But.."

"I said out! Now, respect mah authoritah!" He turned over not to face her, and she headed out disappointedly.

_What a fatass._

She walked down the street, hands in her pockets, kicking rocks angrily. What was she supposed to do now? It was saturday, and there was nothing to do and no one to hang out with. She would've hung out with Alicia, but she was out of state. And Natasha hadn't answered her phone since last night. She hoped nothing had happened to her last night. After all, she didn't even see her leaving last night, she was just kinda..gone. Wierd.

She had been so lost in her thoughts, she had forgotten that she was actually walking down the sidewalk. All of a sudden, she bumped into someone and fell back.

"Ow! Gah!" A twitchy boy was holding his head in pain across from her on the sidewalk. He was accompanied two others. A boy with messy brown hair, and one that was wearing a light blue hat and flipping her off.

"I am _so_ sorry!" She stumbled up, ignoring the rude, blue hatted boy.

"Watch where you're going next time." The brunette scowled. They assisted the blonde up, and began to walk away.

"Wait!" In a desperate attempt to keep their company she began to think up something quick. ", I'm new in town. Can you maybe...show me around?"

"You're not new! You sit in the back of my class!"

"Okay, whatever. Truth is, there's nothing to do today, no one to hang out with. So, how about we go skating or something." A hopeful grin emerged on her face, as the three boys considered the proposal.

"Okay. you can hang with us." The hatted one decided. ", By the way, I'm Craig. This is Clyde, and that's Tweek."

"Gah!"

The four of them headed towards Stark's Pond, Craig flipping people off the whole way. They certainly were strange, but one thing was obvious. A day spent with them, would never be a boring one.

OoOoO

"We need to operate immediately!" Rebecca pulled out a fake scalple.", Kyle?"

"Huh?" Kyle's attention returned to Rebecca. He was lying on her bed, a cast wrapped around his head. This was the third time this week they had played doctor, and the overly childish game was driving him crazy.

"I'm about to operate on you. I need you to sign these waivers, you know, just in case" She thrust a bunch of papers, written on in crayon, in his face. He couldn't take any more of this.

"Actually, you know my told me to be home by lunch. So, I'm just gonna go." He unwrapped his fake cast and handed it back to a dismal Rebecca. ", I'll just see you in school tomorrow." He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, suddenly feeling guilty.

Once he was out of the house, he thunk up ideas of where to head to next. Stan and him hadn't actually hung out in a while, it seemed lately that he was always with Kenny. Kenny. His hooded, perverted friend had been mad at him since he had caught Ariana with him at the park. Maybe he could go pay him a visit. Just to see what he had been up to.

OoOoO

There was a knock at the door, followed by Kenny's drunken father ordering someone to answer it. Kenny exchanged a look with his brother. Terrance and Phillip was on and niether of them felt much like missing even a second of it.

"Nose goes!" Kevin shouted while quickly placing his finger on his nose. Kenny just grumbled, reluctantly getting up to open the door.

When he opened the door, the person standing there was suprising enough for Kenny to completely forget about Terrance and Phillip. An apologetic Kyle stood before him.

"Who is it?!" Kevin called from across the small room.

"Just a friend..." Kyle smiled at the word 'friend'.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah. Let's go to my room so Kevin won't bother us."

The two boys walked quietly the whole short walk to the bedroom. No one even dared say anything once they were inside with the door shut. An apology needed to happen, but which boy would be manly enough to speak up first?

"Kenny...I'm sorry." He apologized, breaking the silence that had seemed to last hours. Even though it had only been a few minutes. ", She was _your_ girlfriend. I totally shouldn't have moved in on her like that."

"It's okay. I mean, that was then."

"This is now." Kyle finished.

"Besides, it doesn't seem like she likes either of us anymore. She's all googly eyed with Jimmy." Both of them looked away, obviously hurt. Although, niether of them would admit it right now, but seeing Jimmy with Ariana was a like a big slap in the face.

"Anyways, wanna watch Terrance and Phillip?" Kenny proposed, trying to change the subject.

Kyle made a face. Watching Terrance and Phillip on Kenny's tiny black and white TV set? He looked over to Kenny who understood, shaking his head in obvious rejection.

"Actually, why don't we head over to my house and watch it." The two of them laughed, obviously realizing this would be the better choice. The two walked all the way to Kyle's house, arms over the other's shoulder. Like best friends should.


	10. Not too Late to Apologize

A/N: Hello again. I hope you liked the last chapter. Sorry it took so long to update, I've been pretty busy with life lately. Anyways, hope you enjoy this new chapter, and don't forget to review :)

**Not Too Late to Apologize.**

The next morning Kenny awoke from a sleeping bag on the floor of Kyle's room. He had thought maybe the events of yesterday had been a dream, but it was obviously real that Kyle and him were once again the best of friends. Kyle was lying in bed awake, a tired smiling face greeted Kenny.

"Good morning."

"Morning." He sat up in bed, hiding his unruly red hair with his green hat. "You know, we should head over to Stan's house after breakfast. I haven't talked to him in like a week. You don't know how much that sucked."

"Yeah." They shared a laugh. "Actually, I think there's someone else we need to go see too." Kyle gave him a look of confusion for a second, before finally understanding who he meant.

"No way. That's too wierd, dude!"

"Kyle, we have to face this sometime. Besides, I know that we both want to go clear the air with her."

"Goddamnit."

OoOoO

_Ring, ring..._

Ariana groaned at the incessant ringing of her alarm clock. Her, being a genius and all, forgot to turn it off for the weekend. She reached over to press snooze and turned over towards the cieling. She couldn't get back to sleep now, but she couldn't get up either. On account of the guys not going easy on her yesterday. First, they went to Stark's Pond to skate which ended up turning into a rough game of Hockey. Then, the guys decided they were in the mood for paintball. Which led up to them getting hungry and her making the biggest mistake of the day. Inviting them over to eat. Soon enough, that turned into running around the house with the dogs and breaking her mom's favorite lamp.

"Get the hell up an clean up the mess you made!" Her sister yelled from downstairs. She heard the keys jingling and the dog barking, obviously she was going somewhere.

"Where ya going?" She made her way downstairs to get the swiffer from the closet.

"Out with Rob, I'll be back later." She slipped out the door without another word. Just like every other day.

"Alone again." Slamming the closet door again, she ran back upstairs to blast music and completely disregard her sister's demands.

She lunged for the iHome remote and pressed play. XO by Fall Out Boy came blasting through the speakers and the urge to dance was too overwhelming. She threw her hands up in the air and jumped around shouting lyrics, a pathetic attempt at dancing. A quiet laugh came from towards the window.

"Wow, is this what you do when you're home alone?" Kyle sat perched on a branch laughing at her antics. She quickly shut off the music.

Her first reaction was embarrassment, seeing as Kyle just caught her in one of her dancing fits. It wasn't for a few seconds that she realized Kyle was sitting outside her window, just like the first day of school.

"Uhm, well...uh..Kyle...what are you doing here? I haven't talked to you since.."

"The first day of school?" A muffled voice intervened. As if Kyle being here hadn't been awkward enough, now Kenny was taking a seat on the branch next to him.

"Kenny...Hey. Uh...what brings you to my...tree?" She looked in every which direction, but at the two boys. They hadn't talked to her since the little incident, so why were they suddenly here?

"Dude, this is an awesome place for a treehouse!" Stan clawed his way up the tree, unsteadily settling on a branch. She let out a sigh of relief, thank god for Stan.

"Yeah, I've always thought that. Too bad my parents don't have time to build one for me." She changed focus from Kyle and Kenny to treehouses.

"We could build one. Together" He said, bouncing on the branch a little to test its sturdiness.

"Nah. I usually just hang out in the neighbor's treehouse anyway." The three of them looked across the yard to see a well built treehouse, painted and everything.

"Maybe, we could hang out there with her some time." Kyle inquired, but Ariana quickly rejected the idea.

The three boys exchanged confused looks, it seemed as if she was trying to hide something. They were quiet for a few moments before Cartman gratefully interrupted, panting heavily.

"Screw you, dickholes! You didn't even help me climb up." He scowled while clutching the branch for dear life.

"Suck it up, fatass! We all had to climb up ourselves." Kyle growled.

"I'm sorry, did someone hear something?" Cartman always found new ways of annoying Kyle to no end. Today, he was pretending that he was not there at all.

"You know what? Why don't you guys come in...and get outta my tree." Ariana blurted out in an attempt to stop the small argument before it grew into a full blown altercation.

That was one thing they agreed on. The four of them climb cautiously from the tree to the room, after Cartman almost broke the branch while reaching the narrower side. Kenny took a seat on her desk chair, Kyle sat in the corner. Stan rested against the foot of her bed, and Cartman spread himself across her bed. They stayed like that silently for a while before Cartman began to complain.

"Okay, what was the point of coming here? Because I'm hella bored." He fiddled with her stuffed frog doll, which resembled his Clyde frog.

"Stop saying hella, fatass." Kyle retorted unenthusiastically.

"Did anyone one else hear that? It sounded like a stupid jew, but I'm not sure."

"Will you two shut up." Ariana snapped, yanking her stuffed frog from Cartman, "Anyways, what was the point of coming here anyways?"

"Well...Uhm...Kenny?" Kyle signaled his friend to take it from there.

"We're sorry, the both of us. I shouldn't have been so harsh at Stark's Pond, I should've gotten the message and lived with it."

"And I'm sorry for showing up here and ruining you plans with Kenny." Kyle finished to see her with her hands over her mouth and near crying expression in her eyes. She dashed for Kyle, pulling him into a tight hug. Then, looked to Kenny in a grateful way. He just nodded in a sad way.

"Thank you guys for apologizing, but really everything was my fault." She wiped a happy tear from her eye. Gosh, how girls could get so emotional.

"Just glad we can all be friends now, no wierdness." Kyle's heart was aflutter. The way she was sitting so close to him, resting her hand on his knee, really reminded him of the first day of school.

"Oh, wow. That's sooo sweet, I think I'm gonna cry." Cartman pretended to cry mockingly, "Now, if that's over with. Let's get the hell outta here. I'm hungry and Shakey's Pizza is calling my name."

"Cool, see you guys later." Stan, Cartman, and Kenny began to leave the room, but Kyle stayed behind, "What?"

"Aren't you coming?" He outstretched his hand to her, and she took it willingly, "Didn't think we'd go without you, did you?"

"Hurry up, Jew boy." Cartman shouted impatiently. Ariana and Kyle laughed, at least he was acknowledging his existence again. The two of them walked out, keeping the same pace the whole way there.


	11. Monday Morning Blues

**Monday Morning Blues.**

It was monday morning. The whole fifth grade was buzzing. For today was the day parts for the play would be assigned. Before class everyone was hanging around the wall that the cast list would soon be hanging from. It was another few minutes before Mrs. Delacroix pushed through the crowd to put the list up. Everyone grew anxious, as she backed away. Catiously she escaped the crowd before a frantic rush to see the paper began. Ariana, Alicia, and Natasha were one of the first to reach the list during the mad scramble. What the paper witheld shocked all...

**Cast List for the Fifth Grade Production of Hairspray:**

Lead Roles:

Tracy Turnblad: Wendy Testaburger

Link Larkin: Jimmy Vulmer

Penny Pingleton: Ariana Estes

That was as far as she read. Because much to her dismay, her arch enemy had gotten the part that she had wanted, she had to pretend to be best friends with her, and to top it all off her crush was playing opposite of Wendy Testaburger.

"Goody, I got the part of Tracy." Wendy said, a little too loudly to make sure Ariana had heard, "I knew Aunty wouldn't fail me."

"Aunty? You mean Mrs. Delacroix? what, that's favoritism!" She shouted, making a scene.

"That's_ life_." She moved in closer, getting all in her face. By now, the crowd was less interested in the casting list and more interested in the fight that was unfolding.

"So sad, you weren't good enough to earn a part, you're Aunty had to get it for you." With that, Wendy snapped. She slapped Ariana in the face, who didn't hesitate to tackle her to the ground right after. Stan rushed to pull Ariana off of her, and Token assisted Wendy up.

"Bitch!" Ariana shrieked while squirming in Stan's grasp. He pulled her out through the crowd and sat her down outside of their classroom. She punched and screamed to let her go, but it just made his grip tighter.

"You need to calm down." He sat down next to her, keeping a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Does she want to make my life miserable? I mean, what did I ever do to her?" She began to sob into clenched fists.

"Wendy is just, Wendy...Don't worry about it." He said, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"Stan, you're like the best friend a girl could ask for." She hugged him tightly.

"Well, I try." He laughed, returning the hug. They got up and walked into Mrs. Garrison's class together, his arm over her shoulder protectively.

OoOoO

Kenny chewed on his pencil anxiously, waiting for the lunch bell to ring. It felt as if he was squirming inside of his own skin. Another tap on the shoulder. Natasha, again, no doubt. He turned hesitantly to face a starry eyed Natasha, again. This time she wanted to borrow_ another _pencil. Maybe, she was hoarding his pencils and other belongings to add to a sick shrine of him hidden in the depths of her closet. He cringed at the thought.

_Ring, ring..._

Finally, the sweet sound of the lunch bell. He gathered his stuff as quickly as possible and bolted out of the classroom, ignoring Cartman's insults. He ran down the hall, papers flying in every which direction, but he didn't mind. It's not like he was gonna do the work anyway.

"Hey Kenny."

Sweet, sweet music to his ears. Even though, after Natasha's little annoyances, anything would have sounded good. However, something about Ariana's presence just made him want to wisk her off her feet and shout 'Sweet salvation!'. Let's not get carried away though.

"Ariana, hey let's go -" He stopped midsentence, noticing the faint hand mark on her cheek, "What happened?!"

"What? You didn't hear? Well, its nice to know the gossip queen doesn't spread rumors that have to do with her." She huffed.

"What? What didn't I hear?"

"Nothing. Forget about it, c'mon." She pleaded, pulling him towards the lunch room.

OoOoO

They got their lunch and took a seat at their regular lunch table together for the first time since Kyle and Kenny's small feud. Ariana took a seat next to Kyle, followed by Kenny. Stan and Cartman sat across from them. The only person missing was Alicia, who walked by, without even sparing Stan a passing glance. He looked down at his plate.

"Crazy fight this morning. Cat fights are sooo hot." Cartman snickered, leaving Ariana disgusted by the sexist comment.

"Shut up, fatass!" Kyle cut out defensively.

"Wha' ever." He continued to devour his lunch.

Their was silence at the table for a moment.

"Tasha! Over here." Ariana called over to a lonely Natasha, in an attempt to get on a new subject.

"Hey guys. Kenny." She took a seat across from him, he just made a face, "So, I was thinking, maybe we could hang out after school."

She smiled deviously as if there was a secret that only she and Kenny knew about. Ariana felt Kenny tense up next to her, obviously sensing something was up. She exchanged a look with him, and knodded as if he had explained everything without even opening his mouth once.

"Great idea, we can all hang out at my house. It'll be fun." She butted in, inviting herself.

"Sounds cool. You gonna invite Alicia?" Stan asked casually.

"Of course."

Just then, the lunch bell rang and it was time to head back to class. Natasha, Kenny, Cartman scurried off to their class together. And Ariana, Kyle, and Stan made their way back to Mrs. Garrison's class. On their way into the class Wendy rooted herself in front of the doorway, blocking their entrance. A black eye gracing her face.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll drop out of the play. Just let your understudy take you part." She hissed, bitchily.

"Get out of our way before I give you another black eye."

"C'mon, we both know that you and I will never make it through the first practice, let alone a whole play."

"Please, you just want me to drop out so you can get all the glory. And just so you know, I'm no buying it for a second. I'm gonna be Penny Pingleton if it kills me, and it probably will."

"Whatever, but don't say I didn't warn you." She snapped her finger in an attempt to perfect the classic mean girl, and walked into the classroom. Kyle and Stan just laughed.

The boys went into the classroom, but Ariana stayed out long enough to catch Jimmy strolling down the hall. She beckoned him over.

"H-hey, Ar-ar-ariana." He sputtered.

"Hey, Jimmy, congrats on getting the part." She said dreamily, "You know, a bunch of the guys are coming over today. Do you maybe wanna come?"

"I'd l-la-la-love to, but I c-c-c-can't. I already t-told Wendy I w-wo-ould go over to her pl-place to wa-wa-watch Hair-sp-spray."

"Oh, that's cool." She said in a near whisper while looking down at her shoes.

"Ye-yeah, I g-g-guess I'll see y-you l-la-la-later." He started down the hall leaving her alone in the middle of the hallway. The late bell rang, but she didn't move a muscle. What was the point? Wendy had won.


	12. A Dog by Any Other Name

A/N: Hello ev'rybody :) Sorry about the lack of updates, but between midterm, the end of the marking period, and taking care of a puppy, life has been really busy. I hope ou enjoy the new chapter :)

**A Dog by Any Other Name**

"_Without love, life is Doris Day at the Apollo! Darling, I'll be yours forever 'cause I never wanna be without love. So, darling, never set me free!_" Ariana skipped in circles around the others. It seemed all of them had some kind of problem and she'd be damned if she was gonna let a bunch of negative nancies bring her down.

"Bitch if you don't shut up, I _will_ rip your balls off." Ariana rolled her eyes at Cartman's anatomically incorrect statement.

A crowd of eight strolled down the sidewalk. Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Cartman, Natasha, Alicia, Ariana, and _Rebecca. _What had started off as a few friends hanging out, had turned into half the school making their way to Ariana's house. She wouldn't even be suprised if Tweek, Craig, and Clyde showed up at her door, or even Wendy.

"Someone please tell me again where all these people came from?" Ariana laughed, half jokingly and half serious.

"Shut up, you know you love us." Alicia giggled, hugging her generous host and best friend to death.

"Are we almost there!?" Cartman asked bitterly, tempting Ariana to tell him to just go home.

"Yes, Cartman. We are almost there." She managed between clenched teeth.

They reached her house, making their way across the neatly cut lawn and the perfectly trimmed hedges, Ariana warning them to walk on the path the whole way. She was reaching for the doorknob, when a cool, familiar voice came from the lawn next door.

"Having a party, Ani? I don't remember recieving an invite." She shuddered, slowly turning her head to see a figure that represented the epidomy of cool coming towards them.

"Who the hell are you?" Stan asked bluntly, noticing Alicia's drooling.

"I'm Jack, Jack Russell." He flashed them a charming smile.

"Back from Italy, Jack?" Ariana fidgeted at the door, wanting more than anything to just run into the house and shut the door behind her. Of course, that would be rude on so many levels.

"Yuh, got back thursday. Started school on friday. I waited for you at our spot, didn't know you go to public school now." He replied.

She rolled her eyes at his indifferent attitude, and easy going manner. It was wierd how something she had once found so completely irrisistable, now seemed so intolerable and annoying.

"Yeah, well, you know my parents. Busy, busy. Sometimes I wonder if they even remember that they have children." She shifted her weight from foot to foot in an awkward, impatient manner.

"Forgot to enroll you, did they? Yuh, that sounds like them. Anyways, you've got guests and I'd hate to keep you waiting, so catch you later."

He began back to his house next door, winking at Alicia on the way. Stan's blood began to boil, and Alicia sensed it. A sly smile came across her face and she called out to Jack.

"Wait! Why don't you stay and hang out with us?" She acted completely on impulse, without even considering Ariana's decision on it.

"Well, if it's alright with Ani." He used the childhood nickname that bugged the hell out of her. Alicia turned to Ariana, a desperate look on her face. She had no choice to say yes.

"Cool, but how about we head to my treehouse. You know, so we don't have to cram all of these people into Ani's house." He adjusted his hat, that was turned backwards, and gave them another one of his charming smiles.

"Whatever." Ariana crossed her arms angrily, as the boys jumped around in excitement and ran next door, "Hey! I said stay off the fucking grass!"

Sad. She was beginning to sound a bit like Cartman.


End file.
